Maynard, MA - April 2024.

The human carnage on the roads - "accidents" and road violence

"In Australia, a country with a terrible occurrence and societal acceptance of violent road deaths (would we, for example, be so lackadaisical about the death “toll” were we measuring killings, accidental and otherwise, involving knives or dogs or lawnmowers?), we are culturally imbued with notions of our “rights” rather than our “privileges” when it comes to motor vehicle driving. Something to do with our vast expanses and wide-open roads perhaps."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/18/when-dad-couldnt-drive-any-more-it-was-devastating-but-he-was-just-too-old
#RoadViolence #cars #SUVs #roads #violence #accident #RoadTrauma #RoadTrafficFatalities #roadkill #sprawl #Australia #MobilityDesign

#Roadkill ich finde leider oft tote Tiere an der Straße. Auch ein Rotkehlchen hinterlässt eine Lücke. #birds in #watercolour

The wombat outcry :
An (illegal) selfie with wildlife
vs systematic wildlife destruction and wilful neglect

"The irony of our country’s leaders condemning the actions of a young tourist’s treatment of a wombat while shamelessly sanctioning their slaughter is impossible to overlook...Kangaroos, native birds, possums, black swans and emus are just a few of the many native animals that landholders are granted licences to kill under the ATCW list."

"Our leaders have a lot to answer for and must confront the uncomfortable truth of their own involvement in wildlife destruction. They can no longer ignore the role they play in enabling the harm of native animals while lecturing others on respect for wildlife."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/14/attacking-a-young-tourist-over-her-treatment-of-a-wombat-is-hypocritical-and-misses-the-point
#biodiversity #WildlifeCrime #Australia #culture #EPBCAct #ecocide #governance #roadkill #deforestation #logging #harm

I've driven on Australia's country roads.

Seen the carnage of the wildlife.

I can't begin to tell you how bad it is.

It's hard knowing this and seeing the prominence given to the baby wombat handling fool.

They just don't match up.

smh

#RoadKill #Wombat #DeathAndSuffering
#Australia

Fury in Australia after US influencer Sam Jones hounds baby wombat https://www.byteseu.com/824153/ #AmericanOutdoorsInfluencer #Australia #Australia'sWombatProtectionSociety #BabyWombat #endangered #ForeignAffairsMinisterPennyWong #MishandledAWombatJoey #roadkill #SocialMediaLikes #SouthernAustralia #ViralVideo #WildlifeExperts #wombat #WombatJoey #YoungMarsupial

Second-ever elusive night parrot egg discovered in the Kimberley

"Scientists will use the unfertilised egg to understand more...The decline was noted around the end of the 1800s, and by the early 1900s it had sort of disappeared...It wasn't really rediscovered properly until about 1990 when they found a dead one by the side of a road in western Queensland."

"Ninety per cent of the population of night parrots is in this area, which is almost entirely managed as part of these Indigenous Protected Areas."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-01/second-ever-egg-of-elusive-night-parrot-discovered-in-wa/104882756
#birds #IndigenousPeoples #care #roads #roadkill #science #conservation

Koala interactions, affection between young male koalas

"Three males engaging in unexpected “affiliative” behaviours. They were grooming each other, sniffing each other’s genitals and vocalising to each other in soft, high-pitched calls, similar to the sounds baby koalas make... High density means the home ranges of koalas are more likely to overlap and their interactions will be more frequent. It also means competition for food, space and mates can be especially high. " >>
https://theconversation.com/i-was-shocked-a-scientist-tracking-koalas-films-startling-behaviour-between-young-males-247339

"The species was almost hunted to extinction...They used to skin them alive and put them back up the tree with no fur." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-30/killing-koalas-90-years-since-qld-month-long-open-season/8839720
#koalas #marsupials #mammals #behaviour #SoundEcology #HabitatGrab #destruction #NSWLogging #roadkill #dogattacks #roads

Road and dog density contribute to the extinction of koalas

Road and highway density (road length per square kilometer) and an aggregation of domestic dogs leads to the demise of the marsupial through vehicle crashes and mauling by pets.

Dissanayake, R.B., Stevenson, M., Astudillo, V.G. et al. Anthropogenic and environmental factors associated with koala deaths due to dog attacks and vehicle collisions in South-East Queensland, Australia, 2009–2013. Sci Rep 13, 14275 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40827-w
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-40827-w

Koalas and Dogs Don’t Mix
https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/environment/docs/pa-fact-koalasdogsdontmix.pdf
Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Managing dog and koala/wildlife co-habitation. Why does leashing matter? Bellingen Council
https://www.bellingen.nsw.gov.au/Development/Public-health-and-safety-services-and-approvals/Ranger-Services/Animal-care-and-control

Major Roads. Australian Openstreetmap
https://eatlas.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/df464abf-59be-41cc-a271-d17035582c4c
#koalas #wildlife #Biodiversity #habitat #sprawl #cars #roads #vehicles #crashes #Roadkill #dogs #roaming #pets #DogOwnership #extinction #GlenifferRoad #RosesRoad #Bellingen #BellingenShire

The black summer bushfires’ toll on the vets and carers helping Australian wildlife

"When the 2019-20 fires erupted Veterinarians and carers responded on the front lines. In December 2019 the sky went black in many parts of Australia. In the following weeks, unprecedented bushfires killed 33 people, destroyed thousands of homes, decimated about 3bn animals and 24m hectares of habitat...Smoke was circumventing the globe."

"The trauma doesn’t go away."

Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) is causing hotter, drier conditions and is increasing the risk of bushfires.

> Leave fossil fuels in the ground
> Stop incinerating bio-diversity
> Pay vets to treat Australian wildlife injured by bushfires and combustion engine infrastructure impacts.
> Support volunteer carers for wildlife

>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jan/05/australia-black-summer-bushfires-vets-wildlife
#FossilFuels #HumanActivities #petroculture #fires #risks #Bushfires #2019Bushfires #LoggingImpacts #roadkill #wildlife #biodiversity #incineration #trauma #vets #care #volunteers #governance

Koala deaths though road and highway crashes

“There were five koala deaths on this section of the Bruxner Highway in August alone and any protection measure we can take to reduce that toll is worth taking. A section of the highway between Lismore and Casino will have the speed reduced from 100km to 80km in a bid to reduce koala deaths...Members of the public regularly call us about koalas in roadside trees, which causes sleepless nights wondering if they will be the next ones hit that we have to pick up.”

There seems to be a lack of impact data on the 'dispersed' koalas of the 'upgraded' Gleniffer 'Highway' through the industrially logged forests of Bellingen/Gleniffer. The 50s mobility design has achieved its goal, more traffic is speeding now. Meanwhile, photos proliferate of 'koalas in roadside trees'.
>>
https://indynr.com/speed-zone-change-on-bruxner-highway-will-reduce-koala-deaths/
#koalas #wildlife #MobilityDesign #roads #cars #roadkill #DeathHotspots #speed #GlenifferRoad #speeding #BellingenLogging #Bellingen #Gleniffer #conservation #MembersOfThePublic

Koala Zone paint on the roads and hope everyone will slow down on the roads

Five Koalas have been hit on Broken Head Road this year, and many more in other Koala hot spots across the Byron Shire.

The Koala Zone "signs were funded by a grant from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy and Environment, under the NSW Koala Strategy. Koala road strikes and driver speed will be monitored at the sites over the next four years to help us to understand the impacts of vehicle-activated signs on driver speeds and koalas."

Is Bellingen Shire 'asleep on the wheel' while industrial logging is driving koalas out of their habitat?
>>
https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Council/News/Media-releases/New-Koala-Zones-to-help-our-furry-friends
#koalas #roads #roadkill #BellingenShire #BellingenLogging #GlenifferRoad #cars #speed #extinction makers #BiodiversityCrisis #NSW